De Mortuis

Sometimes it’s just better than people deserve. PW Botha – former President of South Africa, finger-wagging defender of apartheid in its final years, he who refused to release Mandela from prison – is dead. Nelson Mandela comments, ‘We will remember him for the steps he took to pave the way towards the eventual peacefully negotiated settlement in our country’ – and the ANC sends a message of sympathy to the Botha family. What a country. Poverty – yes. HIV/Aids – yes. But amazing grace as well.